


whatever you ask

by theappleppielifestyle



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Truth Serum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 20:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2745671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theappleppielifestyle/pseuds/theappleppielifestyle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is temporarily cursed to answer any question truthfully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	whatever you ask

"Hey, Tony, I’ve always wondered- that thing you do in the morning, that stumbling thing where you’re all mumbly and incoherent before coffee, is that exaggerated?"

"Sadly, not even a little bit," Tony answers, and then smiles tightly, hunching further over his tablet. "Stop asking me questions, asshole."

Clint opens his mouth and Steve shoots him a glare.

"I’m not gonna ask him anything  _bad_ ,” Clint protests. “We wouldn’t do that. Right, guys?”

From the couch, Thor casts a solemn look Steve’s way. “I would never tarnish Tony’s honour, Captain. On purpose, at least.”

"I considered it, but he looks so sad," Natasha says, a flicker of a grin appearing on her face when Tony doesn’t even look up from his tablet to flip her off. "Back at you, Tones."

"Tony knows we tease him out of love, right, Tony," Bruce says absently, and then he straightens, tears his eyes away from where he’s been absorbed with his knitting. "Uh, wait, shit, belay that-"

"Sometimes, but there are times when you go too far or when I’m having a bad day and I get convinced nobody actually likes me and you’re all tolerating me because I pay the rent and give you shiny things," Tony says instantly, curling further and further around his tablet as the words continue to spill from his mouth. "Fuck."

Steve’s glare has turned steely, jaw locked as his hand twitches towards his boyfriend, to place it comfortingly on his knee or take his hand, but he knows if he does that there’s a good chance Tony will throw him off and storm out, so he keeps his hands to himself for the time being.

"That was unintentional," Bruce blurts, looking around the room for help and being met with uncomfortable, vaguely guilty eyes. "I- sorry, Tony, I forgot. You shouldn’t have had to-"

"When I get my hands on your brother, Thor, I’m going to punch him in the face and see if my gauntlets cave in before his face does," Tony says, not looking at any of them, fingers an erratic blur on his tablet.

"That seems fair," Thor sighs.

Steve is about to suggest a midnight snack when Tony rises from the couch, gaze determinedly on his tablet. His hands flex for him automatically, so he sits on them.

"Tony?"

"Not that this hasn’t been fun, but I’m going to go to my workshop, where no-one will ask me anything until SHIELD locates Loki and gets this fucking curse off me. Toodles," he says, and manages to navigate his way out of the lounge without bumping into anything while never looking up from the tablet screen.

Steve follows a while later, and Dummy beeps happily at him when he takes his usual seat on the couch. He strokes Dummy’s support strut fondly. “Hey, boy. You been making smoothies?”

A sad beep, which can’t be good, and Tony says from his workbench, “Prefer to be alone right now, Cap.”

"You won’t even notice I’m here," Steve says, because he knows if he leaves there’s a good chance Tony will pick up a bottle and keep drinking until JARVIS is forced to alert Steve. "Thought I’d have another go at drawing Dummy."

A happy trilling noise from Dummy, and Steve smiles, patting the top of his camera. “Would you like that?”

"Of course, I always enjoy your company," Tony says, and the line of his shoulders go tense.

"I was, uh, asking Dummy," Steve says. "Sorry."

"It’s fine." 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve falls into the familiar routine for a few hours, sketching with the sounds of the workshop in the background, and he tries not to get excited when he hears Tony walking over.

"Nearly done," Steve says, and smudges one of the lines so the shadowing is better. "There. What do you- I mean, I’m done," Steve corrects hastily, remembering he can’t ask ‘what do you think,’ because it counts as a question and he’s trying not to ask those until they break the curse.

Tony notices, his mouth tugging up as he looks it over. “You made him look better than he really is. You heard me,” he says when Dummy makes a high beep. “But really, Steve. It’s great.”

"Yeah?" Steve says it carelessly, and then wonders if that counts as a question. 

He’s answered instantly by Tony saying, “I love all your drawings, even the dumb little doodles, you always put your heart into them. You didn’t make Dummy better than he really is, you drew him like he really is and you made him beautiful, even with all the imperfections.”

Any trace of smile is gone now, and Tony is about to turn away when Steve gives in and closes his fingers around Tony’s wrist.

"I’m sorry," Steve says. "I’m trying, but I guess I gotta be more careful. And- thank you. It means a lot."

He releases Tony’s wrist, and Tony hesitates for a long second before starting back over to the workbench.

"Will you-" Steve stops, rephrases. "I’d like it very much if you sat down with me, if you wanted to."

Tony’s footsteps stop, and then he’s turning and coming to sit next to Steve, leaning into the couch and crossing his arms.

"Can I put my arm-" Steve stops again, sighs, and Tony grins reluctantly.

"I bet you’re cursing how much you ask for permission."

"Isn’t going to make me stop," Steve says, and tries to find a way to ask without really asking. "I want to put my arm around your shoulders, is that oka- no, shit, that’s a question."

Tony rolls his eyes and lets his head drop onto Steve’s shoulder. “Snuggle away, Steve.”

 

 

 

 

They’re in the car to SHIELD, fifteen minutes away from getting the curse lifted when Steve asks jokingly, “So do you hate me yet,” to something that he can’t remember when he tries to think about it later- something about Tony hating morning people, or morning jogs, something morning-related.

Tony goes terrifyingly stiff, eyes wide as he says, “At this point I’m so in love with you I can’t even imagine a situation where I’d hate you.”

Silence falls over the car, and Steve catches Happy glance in the rear-view mirror at them, eyebrows raised and gaze worried.

Tony’s throat works, swallowing twice before Steve starts stammering.

"I, that’s, oh," Steve says weakly. He asks, "Really," before he can stop himself. "No, shit, I’m sorry, don’t answer that-"

But Tony is already answering, looking like he’s considering throwing himself out of the moving car as he does. “Yes, I’m really pathetically in love with you, like, a lot, so much, it’s kind of terrible because I don’t deserve you at all and you’re inevitably going to leave me and you don’t feel the same way and even if you did it wouldn’t be as much as I love you because I didn’t think anyone could love anyone the amount or the way I love you but apparently it’s possible because I really really fucking love you-“

Steve covers his mouth and Tony’s mouth moves against it for at least another ten seconds, muffled by Steve’s palm.

Tony takes a huge, gasping breath when he finally goes silent and Steve drops his hand. “Thanks for the,” Tony says, and gestures to his hand. “Jesus, that was embarrassing.”

He’s pale, almost shaking, and he’s the most beautiful thing Steve’s ever seen. He can’t stop staring.

"Okay," Tony croaks, waving his hand towards Happy. "Hap, you can just let me out right here, I can walk the rest of the way-"

"No, don’t," Steve says, grabbing onto Tony’s shoulders. "I’m, I wasn’t- I know I’m not reacting well, I’m just, I’m awful at this and you took me by surprise."

"So I’m just gonna roll up the privacy window, boss," Happy calls from the frontseat, and neither of them look at him as it rolls up.

Tony is determinedly looking at the seats, out the window, anywhere but Steve as he says, “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

"I’m not," Steve says, stuck between jubilant and terrified and embarrassed as anything. "Tony,  _god_. I fell in love with you before we even started dating.  _Months_  before we even started dating. I wanted to hear everything you had to say, but you looked like you were going to faint and it wasn’t your choice to say it and I knew you’d be mortified that I heard it.”

Tony stares at him before saying, “Ow,” and Steve has a moment of confusion before he realizes he’s squeezing Tony’s shoulders pretty hard.

"Sorry," he says, releasing them. "Sorry, I know I’m doing this all wrong, I just, I always expected I’d say it first. And that you’d have a choice in saying it. I’m sorry you were forced into it by a curse, but I’m not- I mean, I’m glad you said it."

His smile is short-lived. “Unless you didn’t want to say it! Which, god, of course you didn’t, you looked like you were actually going to throw yourself out of the car into moving traffic-“

"I considered it," Tony mutters, and Steve puts his face in his hands for a second, breathing deeply.

"Just so you know," he says after he’s looking Tony in the eye again. "Those other things, about me leaving you and me being too good for you and not being able to feel the same way because you, uh, love me so much- that’s bullshit. If anything, I, uh, I thought you’d get bored and leave me. Or I’d tell you how I felt and you’d, you wouldn’t-"

Words fail him as Tony cups his face with not-so-steady hands, looking at Steve like- 

"Guess we’re both idiots, huh?" Steve croaks, and then he stiffens as he remembers. "Damnit-"

"Neither of us are idiots," Tony says. "I’m a genius, and you’re very smart. But about this, yeah, I’d say we were dumb about it, although my previous conclusions were logical-"

Steve covers his mouth until he stops talking, at which point he drops his hand and Tony clears his throat and says, “Thank you. Now let’s go and get this curse broken. Hap?”

"We got to SHIELD ‘bout five minutes ago, I’ve been driving around the block," Happy replies through the intercom. "Things okay back there?"

"Things are great," Tony says. "I’m actually the happiest I’ve ever been right now-"

Steve covers Tony’s mouth, grinning. “No questions, Happy, remember?”

"Crap, sorry."

"It’s fine," Tony says through Steve’s palm. 

**Author's Note:**

> here's my [tumblr](http://theappleppielifestyle.tumblr.com/).


End file.
